D-Day
As Supreme Expeditionary Forces Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower had the top military men of Great Britain and the United States under his command. These men would help him play out the great plans for the long awaited invasion. Their orders from the Combined Chiefs of Staff were very simple; they were to land on the coast of France and destroy the German armies. The Nazis General Field Marshal Erwin Rommel took many different measures to prepare for the attacks by the Allies. He was the only General under Hitler's command that believed Normandy not Pas Del Calais would be the invading point (Skipper 42). His troops worked feverishly to strengthen defenses. The entire coastline was littered with land mines. Their beaches had deadly obstacles and their weapons and bases were camouflaged. They felt that on shore they were invincible. By early 1944 almost one million Allied soldiers arrived in the United Kingdom. That brought their total there to almost three million. The Allied airforce strength had grown from a few thousand planes to more than 15,000 planes. The 5,000 bombers were ready to drop over 100,000 bombs. All the available space in Britain was used for storage.Newly thoughts up ideas were in the m
After the first week of battle Allied casualties grew in numbers. The troops were able to move forward without that much of a delay. New York: Galahad Books, 1981Edwards, Tudor. Sainte-Mere-Eglise was the first German town to be captured by paratroopers. Chicago: Regensteiner Publishing Enterprises, Inc. BibliographyCollier, Richard. They were also very useful as scouts. Soon Allied destroyers were used to try and fight the coastal defenses that the air force attacks did not destroy. Nazis had filled the French coast with mines. On June 7th General Eisenhower took a look at the shores of the landing from a destroyer offshore. Soon the troops made it to the shores. The Germans who were surprised by the invasion were quick to prepare. Paratroopers were also mentally and physically toughened up for their missions. Another obstacle in the way of the Allied troops was the Nazi soldiers that hid in hedgerows. Although there were no large scale surrenders the Allies gained enough hostages to provide officials with the needed information.
Common topics in this essay:
United Kingdom,
Casualties D-Day,
Airborne Divisions,
Soon Allied,
Del Calais,
Sainte-Mere-Eglise German,
World War,
Utah Omaha,
Chiefs Staff,
Britain United,
coastal defenses,
allied troops,
air fighters,
allied casualties,
omaha beach,
postpone invasion,
|